Well, I am here in Long Island attending graduate school. For this blog, I try to gather marine and environmental related news and post them here, and add my two cents where I deem appropriate. Enjoy!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake Bay

For Marylanders, summer is all about the water. With the warm weather comes trips to the Eastern Shore and Ocean City, boat outings around the Chesapeake Bay, and, of course, crab feasts!

We often hear “blue crabs are in trouble,” but what does that really mean?

The State of the CrabScientists survey crab populations by trawling nets to collect crabs or by counting crabs already collected in pots.

The good news is that they have not recorded a massive decline in stock, or local population, lately. In fact, stock estimates during 2002 and 2003 showed improvement over 2001 levels, which were reported at historic lows not seen since the early 1970’s.

Scientists remain concerned that population may drop once again. The future is dependant on high birth rates and the ability of newborn and young crabs to survive over a series of years.

The Chesapeake Bay Commission's 2003 Blue Crab Report demonstrates a need for continued conservation efforts from the private and public sectors.

In 2003, the Chesapeake Bay Commission’s Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee (BBCAC), a committee in place to ensure inter-state coordination between Maryland and Virginia, issued a report outlining several actions to help replenish blue crab populations.

The committee adopted a recommendation of a threshold that would preserve 10% of the blue crab’s spawning stock. If the threshold is not met, the reproductive capacity of the stock could be jeopardized.

Since issuing the report, the committee has disbanded due to insufficient funding.

What's Being DoneTo meet the target goal, all three regions making up the BBCAC (Maryland, Virginia, and Potomac River Fisheries Commission) agreed to put new regulations on both commercial and recreational crabbers, as well as seafood processors. These include size limits, restrictions on length of workdays and fishing seasons, and the establishment of seasonal sanctuaries off limits to commercial crabbing.

The Aquarium applauds such initiatives, and invites volunteers to join us for tidal marsh restoration on the Bay to rebuild and preserve the crab's natural habitat.

We encourage our friends and partners to take personal action to ensure that the crabs we catch and eat adhere to size restrictions so that they can grow big enough to produce offspring.

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About Me

I am a marine biologist that is currently attending graduate school at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Marine Sciences Research Center, of Stony Brook University, New York. I am very interested in marine ecology and have been focusing my studies on bay scallop interactions with their habitats. I plan to investigate various anthropogenic impacts on bay scallop populations for my PhD dissertation. This blog will highlight the details of my graduate research, from bay scallop-eelgrass interactions as previously mentioned, to alternative habitats for scallops, such as Codium, to trophic cascades, and more. Enjoy!